


Stars

by TheWitchOfTheRock



Series: Lab Partners [8]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Homesick, Sadness, Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-30 00:20:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20805404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWitchOfTheRock/pseuds/TheWitchOfTheRock
Summary: Hordak doesn't often get  nostalgic, but he does miss the stars.  How can he explain the beauty of the  universe to Entrapta, who's spend her whole life stuck on this isolated rock?





	Stars

It wasn’t often that Hordak found himself outside. He normally preferred the comfort, and dim lighting of his sanctum. But sometimes, he longed for the cool night air. In summer in particular, there was a feeling to the air, a smell, a sense, when the air cooled and you knew it had been perhaps unbearably hot earlier in the day but now that heat was just a reminder of what was, like the smell of smoke from a doused fire.

This was what he was enjoying on this night. That, and the bright glowing moon. But the lack of stars made him… uncomfortable. It was the only thing that ruined the night for him. Without the stars, the clear night sky seemed dark and empty. He still loved the night, but it made him feel horribly isolated. He’d say he felt homesick, but he didn’t miss any concept of home, he missed the freedom to go through space, to see the world, the endless chaotic possibilities that lingered out there. 

He loved the night, but in Etheria, he could only enjoy so much before he started to feel...

“You’re sad?”

Hordak turned quickly - he had assumed he was alone. It was was quite late, and most people were if not asleep in the Fright Zone, then at least inside. Entrapta had got up, and found him. Imp was at her side. He narrowed his eyes at the little creatine, who only stuck out his tongue in response. 

“I woke up, and you weren’t in the lab.” Entrapta said softly, “I was worried something bad happened.” 

“I just needed some air.”   
  


“But you’re sad?”

“Why do you say that?” 

Entratpa smiled softly, “When you’re sad, your ears tilt down a bit.” She said. Hordak felt his ears twitch. Etherians never noticed his ears. He wasn’t sure how he felt that Entrapta was starting to notice. 

“I’m not sad.” He said, his tone not necessarily one of denials, “Just…” what was the word he was looking for. “Nostalgic?”

“Oh?” Entrapta came up to him, and looked up into the sky. “For what?”

Hordak frowned. He didn’t like to talk about his past, about the stars and travelling. It had been years, and he was used to it, but the loss of the universe still stung at times. 

“Do you know what stars are” He asked. 

“I know of stars.” She said, nodding, “There’s some writing from the First Ones talking about them.”

“What do you know about them?”

“Uh..” He hair twisted around her, as it often did when she was recalling, “Just that they’re little dots of light in the sky.”

He sighed. Little dots of light. That wasn’t wrong, necessarily, but it was like saying a forest was a collection of trees, or the ocean was a really big pond. 

“They were beautiful.” He said, realizing as the words left his mouth that there was a hint of wistfulness in his voice. Something he had picked up in Etheria over the years. Normally, save for rage which he needed to keep his Force Captains in line, he was more used to keeping his voice level. His own language didn’t have tone like Etherian did. 

Entrapta looked up at him. She had a sad look on her face, and pulled her mask down. Had he made her sad? Upset? She only did that when she was uncomfortable. He frowned , and started back inside. 

“I wish I could have seen them.” She said. 

Hordak wanted to promise her then and there that when the portal was done, once Horde Prime came and took over this planet, he’d take her into space, and show her every galaxy, they’d visit every start and he’d show her the grandeur, the enormity, the pure dark beauty of the night sky filled with stars. He sometimes imagined that he could convince Horde Prime that as a scientist, her value was great, and that they should take her - if she wanted to go. 

But he’d not take her. He didn’t trust non-clones in his army. At best, she’d be his scientist in Etheria, and he’d likely never see her again. 

His breathing quickened. He focused, slowed his breath, and kept walking, leaving Entrapta to look at the empty night sky with Imp. 

\--------

Hordak avoided Entrapta for most of the next day. He had meetings to attend to, things to inspect, and if he made those things take a little longer than necessary, well, he was the leader of the Horde. He had duties. 

For some reason, her never seeing the stars bothered him. It wasn’t fair that a brilliant mind like hers should be stranded in this place, with limited access to tech and science and space. Imagine what she could do if she had the whole universe before her. Imagine how she’d flourish. 

Imagine how her eyes would light up if she saw the stars, just once. But he couldn’t give her the stars. 

He was in a combat meeting when the idea came to him properly. Some of his Force Captains were showing a display of a village in their territory that they had been defending, showing him the diagrams with the 3d hologram tech that they had developed. When the Force Captain zoomed into an area, the images around him expanded, and covered the room in poor models of the local landscape. 

He ignored the rest of the meeting. He had an idea, and getting the idea was the hardest part of it - it’s execution would be simple. 

\--------

Hordak hadn’t seen Entrapta all day. She had gone back to bed after he left her outside, and he had made a point to avoid her before his grand idea, and after because he had things to do, and he wanted what happened next to be a surprise. Imp had found him, and screeched at him. He explained what he was doing, hoping that would pacify the little brat. 

It didn’t. Instead he opened his mouth, and played a recording. He didn’t know what he was listening to, there were no words, but then he heard the soft, muffled sound of Entrapta, crying softly. 

He cursed. No, he’d make it up to her. He only needed a little more time. He rushed around his quarters, setting up a few last minute things, and then when everything seemed done, he turned to Imp. 

“Make sure she comes -here- When she goes to sleep.” He said. Imp gave him a glare, then scurried off. 

Hordak turned off all the lights, including the backup security lights. He knew Entrapta didn’t like the dark, but he’d need her to manage just a few moments in the darkness. It would be worth it if she could. He positioned himself by the door, ready for when she came in. He’d at least be there to help her when she came into the dark. 

It was a good hour, maybe more later when he heard her hesitantly approaching the door. The door pulled open, and she hesitated at the entrance, looking into the darkness. 

“It’s alright.” Hordak said. He stepped into the light that was pouring from the other side of the door. He looked down at her face, and could have smacked himself. Her eyes were red from crying, and she looked mad. 

He had not handled this well. 

“I have a surprise for you?” He said, carefully. He hoped she wouldn’t just stalk away. 

She might have. She was hesitating. Hordak held his hand out, his ears flicking down. She hesitated, and took his hand. He led her inside, and gave her hand a squeeze as the door closed behind them, and the darkness that overtook the room drew a frightened gasp from her. 

“Just another minute.” He said, trying to keep a calm tone to his voice as he led her to the bed. He guided her to lie down on the bed, then went to the other side, and lay down next to her. She was stiff, and didn’t cuddle into him as she normally did. 

Odd. This suddenly filled him with… Anxiety? 

He suppressed that. This - he hoped- would all be worth it. He had spent the latter part of the day in here, setting things up, taking old charts and pictures, enhancing, organizing, trying to make it look like it did in his head. He really hoped she couldn’t be disappointed. 

“Comfortable?” He asked. She gave a little grunt that could have been yes or no. He didn’t know if it was because she was uncomfortable in the dark, or mad at him. 

Likely both. 

At least one issue he could fix immediately. He lifted his hand, and snapped. Programing the projectors to respond to that had taken an extra hour, but if he was going to do something, he wanted to do it right. 

The room lit up. In the darkness there were no walls, no furniture, no floor. On their bed they floated in the void of space, surrounded by a multitude of stars, planets both relatively close, and distant. Distant nebulas, hung in the distance, like iridescent, multicolored clouds. Comets raced by, leaving a tail of light behind them for a few seconds after they were gone. 

Entrapta gasped next to him. He looked over, and in the darkness, he could see her illuminated eyes widen, her face brightened with shock. 

“I.. wanted to show you the stars.” He said simply, hoping that this filled her with the same wonder that he managed to fill him with every single time he looked out the vastness of space. 

“These… THIS is what stars look like?” She gasped. He smiled, and nodded. His ears flicking back, he shifted slightly closer to her, and took her hand again. 

“I wanted to surprise you.” He said. “I’m… I apologize if my actions upset you.” 

She turned away from the display, and look at him, frowning slightly, her eyes brimming with tears, “I thought I made you mad.” She said, her voice quavering, “I thought - “   
  


“I made myself mad.” He lied. He hadn’t been mad. Mad he could manage. He had felt this overwhelming sadness all day that he didn’t know how to manage. “I wanted to show you the stars, but I didn’t think I could… this isn’t quite the same, but it’s as good as I can do.” 

She hesitated, the finally cuddled into him, letting her hair wrap around him. “How many stars are there?” She asked. He chuckled. 

“I’d not be able to say. Countless stars. Some are other planets- “He pointed to a start that was glittering green, “So they look like a different color. Some are other suns.” He pointed to a long, trailing river of stars, “that’s a distant galaxy. Lots of stars, all clustered together with all kinds of planets and systems… “ 

“Is your planet here?” She asked. He shook his head. ‘

“I don’t have a planet, technically.” He muttered, “I was created on the Horde Mothership. In the middle of space.” 

She smiled softly, “so when you were growing up, if you looked out your window, you saw all these stars?”

Hordak hadn’t necessarily, ‘Grown up’ but it would be pedantic to explain that to her. “More or less,” he said. 

“That’s why you were so sad.” she said, her hands resting on his chest, “You miss the stars.” 

He held her tight. It worried him that she was starting to be able to pick up on his moods like that, but at the same time it was strangely comforting. 

She pointed out various things that he had programmed, and asked about them, what they were, what their purpose was. He was in the middle of describing a particular galaxy that was mostly green, with some red and yellow, and describing how their scientists had discovered that it smelled similar to Etherian raspberries, when he decided that he’d never lose another star again. He didn’t know how he’d do it, what he’d tell Prime, or what he’d have to give or suffer to do it, but Entrapta was his Etherian Star now. 

And he’d not lose her. 


End file.
